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Out here in Oregon, I enjoy the rough-hewn life of a modern homesteader and mountain woman, weaving outdoor adventures into the fabric of everyday living. Whether tending this McKenzie River homestead hearth or a campfire up in the mountains, I find great enjoyment in the work of a self-sufficient life. Gather around as I share my tales of camping, cooking, hiking, handcrafting, wildcrafting, canning, growing food, keeping chickens, and raising twin children. It is my hope to share some ideas and inspiration with other folks, to strengthen our connections with the land and wild places.

"We all have our bear to cross." -Hugh Glass 1824

Monday, May 9, 2011

100th Blog Follower Giveaway

To celebrate my blog reaching 100 official followers this week, I decided it's time for a giveaway. It's my way of saying "Thank You" to all of my readers out there. There will be three winners, each receiving a gift from my Mountain Hearth Handcrafts Etsy shop at http://www.mountainhearth.etsy.com/. I have been amazed since I started up this writing project at how many folks out there are following along. While I have 100 regular readers through Google, there are also many more out there to thank. I discovered the "stats" button a little while back, and realized I have readers all over the world, around 200 site visits a day, and over 34,000 site visits in all! I am humbled and filled with gratitude to be sharing my ideas, adventures and musings on this life with so many others, many whom I have never met. Creating something that you can share makes it just so much more fun. Thank you for your visits, comments and support of my business through the Etsy shop!

One winner will receive one of my handmade bird's nests with felted wool eggs. I make these out of the invasive European Beach Grass roots that are encroaching on our local sand dune ecosystem, doing my part to combine art and invasive species control. They make a nice year-round decoration, but are especially nice on Spring season tables and tucked into the boughs of your tree for the Winter holidays.

I've also got some homestead goods to give away. Another winner will receive on of my handcrafted cast iron skillet grabbers made from recycled wool sweaters. They will save your hand from some nasty burns, and come in very handy around the kitchen. Someone recently pointed out that they're also the right size to hold cel phones! My husband lent his artistic skills to make these fun tags, that read, "Cast Iron: The hottest thing since long john underwear." So very true.

And the other winner will receive one of my handcrafted mason jar warmers also made of recycled wool sweaters. They keep your hands comfortable and your tea or soup hot when putting all those extra mason jars around the kitchen to use. This one comes with another of my husband's tag creations.

To enter, simply leave a comment on this post introducing yourself, sharing a little about your homesteading activities or aspirations if you'd like, and how you came to read my blog. I want this to be an opportunity to meet my readers! If you aren't signed up with a Google account to leave comments, you can leave one on my Mountain Hearth Handcrafts Facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Mountain-Hearth-Handcrafts/290968424339?ref=ts. And then there's also good old fashioned e-mail at: mountainhearth@gmail.com. I will close the giveway in one week, on Monday, May 16, and put all the entries into a hat from which the three winners will be randomly drawn. Then I will contact the winners and send them their gift.

17 comments:

yay! go lara! that's so funny, i still cannot figure out how to operate any of the stats stuff to save my life. what a fun giveaway, though! i am going to have to rethink my constant comments though if THAT many people are reading you. hehe. let's see, homesteading. i currently cannot get enough of gardening right now. i can't wait to have my own place someday so i can sheet mulch it to my heart's content. till the ducks, goats, and cows come home. i'm lately contemplating whether it would be wise to have a bee box in my (rented) backyard...... oh and if we're allowed to pick a favorite giveaway item, definitely the birds nest! my kiddo is in love with all things egg. though i do love your jar warmers- such a needed item!

Hi Lara!My name is Becky and I live in a smallish bush town in Victoria, Australia. I am married to a lovely Irishman and we have 2 gorgeous children Beau and Bella.I came across your blog through Taryn from Wooly Moss Roots, in my quest to find others in the world who are also interested in simple and earthy ways of living. I love how inspiring you are. My husband and I are slowly working on making our property fully self sufficient, with lovely frsah vegetables and more recently planting lots of fruit trees, preserving our harvests, raising chickens, adding solar power and more. I love that I can teach my children to live in such a way that it will nourish their souls for many years to come.I am aspiring to become a Naturopath to help others learn to heal themselves naturally as I have done and am still learning to do.Thankyou for sharing such wonderful information about your life and lifestyle. It nourishes my soul. xx

How lovely!I love to read you blog.It is very special. I found you through Taryns blog!I grow lots of veg on my allotment. I also make jams, chutneys and bake. I also like to make salves and infusions. I have 3 chickens, but would love to have ducks and goats.Much love to you.

I recently started began reading your lovely blog, and linked you in mine, so you can consider me "follower" 101. :p I wanted to come tell you that my husband & I watched 2 videos you recommended on Mother's Day night: Alone in the Wilderness and Braving Alaska. We loved them both! They were fascinating, awesome, and we keep telling other folks about them. So, thanks for that! :)

I'd love to enter your drawing for the cast iron grabber & jar warmer. We've been doing much of the "urban homesteading" thing for several years while we save up for our dreamy pieace of forever land. This year we've scaled back on a lot of our projects. Our yard is not conducive to very good growing, and we'll be movoing soon enough that putting a lot of energy & resources in it would be dumb. ANYWAY, ;) , thanks for your cool blog. :)

hey mama ~ i just found you on mb, but i'm totally a follower now so please count me in :)

lately i have been loving yogurt making, sowing my cool weather crops for PA's chilly spring weather, getting crafty in an eco-friendly way, homeschooling and dishing out the mama love and trying to tap into some domestic bliss (aka, keeping up with the crazy work & laundry!!)

always looking for the positive & manifesting good things ~ and i can't wait to devour your blog!

Hi! I'm a friend of Taryn's and found your blog through her. I love homesteading- i have chickens and a huge garden, and have an organic soap business. I buy raw milk and make butter, yogurt, and cheese. I am dreaming of my own 5 acre homestead- I'm actually putting in an offer on a place today in Lorane- I'm nervous!! I love the cast iron pot holder!

My name is Nerissa. I found your blog through Cold Antler. I really like your blog because it is so much more local (me being in Seattle) than most the ones I find on the east coast. Right now I'm especially interested in canning (last night I put up strawberry jam and syrup) its so fun. I'm trying to get my garden going but its still so cold up here the only thing striving is beets.

Hi I am Kimmy and I just found you on Cold Antler..........your photo was so cool I had to follow to see if it led to my beloved mountains :) It did!!! I hail from Oregon also in the Columbia River Gorge. My husband and I live in a 100 yr old home his great granddad built and I am trying to do more to become self sufficiant after leaving a "job" to come home again after 15 years in the workplace. I have 6 chickens, new this spring, and huge garden and love to can and hang laundry on the line! I am so excited to find a fresh new blog about the things I hold dear. Thanks for the opportunity to win.......I adore the birds nest :) looking forward to many good reads in your archives! p.s. I love John Muir :) and our mountains!!!!

Howdy - I'm Wendy in Wyoming. I'm new to find your blog and I'm impressed. My family owns a working cattle ranch, we have cow/calf pairs and grow alfalfa. We have horses and a new foal this spring. In the past few years I have added small numbers of chickens and bees. We have as big of a garden as our climate will allow. I'm always interested in learning self sufficiency and am trying to soak up old fashioned ranch skills from my elders. I live in a very rural area and love it. Cheers!

Hi! I love your blog.. can't remember how I ran across it, but I love the peaceful feeling and sweet magic that flows from it.. Sending you blessings and congratulations on your following from my nest here in the woods of North Carolina.

So many wonderful homesteading activities going on out there! It's wonderful to hear from all of you! I wanted to let everyone know too that Blogger has been experiencing technical difficulties the last couple of days, and a few of your comments didn't make it on here, but I have them in my email and your entries are in. Keep the entries coming! Tell your friends!

Hi! I don't know how I stumbled across your blog ~ but I think it's wonderful. Love how you follow the Wheel of the Year, something I am really trying to incorporate into my life. Your seasonal altars are such an inspiration! Blessings!

Hi Lara! Congratulations on your 100th follower! I can't remember how I found your blog, but I believe it was through a comment on another blog (maybe CAF?). Either way I've been reading your posts for more than a month now and love the stories you tell with all the wonderful corresponding pictures. I have learned so much from you already!

My husband and I rent a small portion of a working dairy farm (not our cows) in northwestern PA (Appalachian plateau region). We raise chickens, angora rabbits, and alpaca currently. I'm a spinner and fiber artist and am hoping to expand my fiber animals once we finally find our own place. We are homesteaders in the works and are learning to be better gardeners (though with all this rain, I'm not sure how that will turn out this summer) and canners, and are working to preserve as much of our own food as we can so we can eat more locally. And my goal this year is to learn how to forage for wild edibles in our own area.

Hi Lara! I'm Taryn, your pioneer neighbor. :) I didn't enter the giveaway initially because I am able to do trades with you to enjoy your beautiful, beautiful art in our home.... and wanted to give others the opportunity. But then, I thought "why not enter?" So I am entering.

I am so happy to read your blog. It inspires me and I learn a lot. Your family is so beautiful and very dear to my heart.

The homesteading activities I am excited about right now - asparagus popping up! grape starts are growing! blueberries that need to go in the ground. getting summer squash and winter squash planted today and putting them in the greenhouse.

Hi, First time visiting. I found you through Taryn's blog, which I found through Farmama's blog. We homestead in Texas. We came over from Louisiana a few months ago, with the opportunity to caretake someone's farm. We have a little boy and this way of life just feels best. Thanks for offering this giveaway.